Elastic unit as a separate elastic member to be mounted at an elastic unit receiving section of an align fixture

ABSTRACT

An align fixture for aligning an electronic component having an elastic unit plate having an elastic unit receiving section, a receptacle adapted to receive the electronic component and having a first abutting section and a second abutting section, and an elastic unit, the first abutting section being flexibly mounted via the elastic unit, the elastic unit is adapted to exert a force to align the electronic component to the second abutting section, and the elastic unit is a separate elastic member adapted to be mounted at the elastic unit receiving section.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/234,824, filed on Aug. 18, 2009 in the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office, the entire content of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an align fixture for aligning an electroniccomponent. Moreover, the invention relates to a carrier. Beyond this,the invention relates to a method of using the carrier.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Integrated circuits are usually fabricated on semiconductor wafers. Theintegrated circuits have a variety of uses and can be found in versatileelectric devices. Depending on the purposes they are made for theintegrated circuits and other electronic components such as resistors,capacitances and inductances are packaged, marked and tested beforebeing assembled. For example, MEMS (micro electro mechanical system)components are tested under given temperatures, pressure, angles ofinclination and different types of accelerations. Hence, the completemanufacturing of electronic components can be divided into processes ofpure fabrication and a process after finishing the contact patterns ofthe electronic components. There are three types of machine which handleelectronic components the so called “Gravity handler” and “Pick & Placehandler” handling singulated electronic components and the “Striphandler” which handle so called strips.

US 2003/0017629 A1 discloses an apparatus for supporting singulatedelectronic devices during a testing operation, comprising: a main bodyand a support member, wherein said support member is made ofnon-conducting high-resistivity material and comprises a plurality ofrecesses, each said recess being adapted to receive an individualsingulated device. There is also disclosed a method for testing suchdevices in which the devices are carried on support members through atesting process including one or more environmental control chambers.

US 2006/0154386 A1 discloses an apparatus and method are provided foraligning a plurality of semiconductor devices placed on a carrier.Alignment guides are located adjacent to each device in use, andarranged such that they correspond to a desired alignment of eachsemiconductor device. For alignment, the semiconductor devices are heldby a positioning device comprising a plurality of holders, each holderbeing configured to generate a force to hold a semiconductor device.Actuators are also provided that are operative to move the positioningdevice and holders to bias the semiconductor devices against thealignment guides to orientate the semiconductor devices until they arealigned with said alignment guides.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,680 B2 discloses an insert and electronic componenthandling apparatus provided with the same. To provide a guide corecapable of being detachably attached to an insert body and an insertbody to which the guide core can be detachably attached, U.S. Pat. No.7,156,680 B2 provides a guide core able to be attached in a detachableway to an insert body, comprising a supporting portion capable ofsupporting an external terminal face of an area array type electroniccomponent so that external terminals of the area array type electroniccomponent are exposed to the direction of connection terminals of asocket, and a hook receiver able to be engaged in a releasable way witha hook portion provided to the insert body, and an insert body able tobe attached in a detachable way with the guide core, comprising anelectronic component guide portion comprising a guide core attachmentsocket to which the guide core is attached, and an electronic componentinlet connected with the guide core attachment socket so that anelectronic component can be guided to the guide core attached to theguide core attachment socket, and a hook portion able to be engaged in areleasable way with a hook receiver provided to the guide core.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,229 A discloses a chip carrier structure forcontaining a chip carrier having electrical contact pads having apositioning structure for the chip carrier and a slotted structure matedto form a mated structure containing said chip carrier, the slots of theslotted structure being in alignment with the pads of the chip carrierto provide electrical and mechanical access to the pads from theexterior to the interior of the mated positioning and slottedstructures.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There may be a need for a system capable of aligning an electroniccomponent in an efficient way.

In order to achieve the object defined above, an align fixture foraligning an electronic component, a carrier comprising multiple alignfixtures, and a method of using a carrier are provided.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, an align fixturefor aligning an electronic component is provided, wherein the alignfixture comprises an elastic unit plate (such as a plate, for instance apatterned plate, at which an elastic unit is to be mounted) having anelastic unit receiving section (for instance a provision such as amounting base at which an elastic unit is to be mounted), a receptacle(which may be denoted as a device to receive and contain something)adapted (particularly intended) to receive the electronic component andhaving a first abutting (particularly touching) section (particularlysegment) and a second abutting section, an elastic (particularlyflexible, resilient or springy) unit (particularly a piece or complex ofapparatus serving to perform one particular function), the firstabutting section being flexibly mounted via the elastic unit (forinstance mounted at a support of the align fixture or at the elasticunit plate), wherein the elastic unit is adapted to exert a force toalign the electronic component to the second abutting section, andwherein the elastic unit is a separate (particularly discrete, sole orsolitary) elastic member (particularly piece, which may be a physicalstructure not being integrally formed with the elastic unit plate)adapted to be mounted at an elastic unit receiving section.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a carrierfor aligning multiple electronic components is provided, wherein thecarrier comprises multiple align fixtures having the above mentionedfeatures.

According to still another exemplary embodiment of the invention, amethod of using a carrier having the above mentioned features isprovided, wherein the method comprises:

-   -   actuating a clamping mechanism to expose openings in the        receptacles being larger than the electronic components        (particularly moulded parts) to be received;    -   positioning (particularly placing) the electronic components in        the openings in the receptacles (particularly after exposing the        openings);    -   actuating the clamping mechanism to reduce a size of the opening        so that the electronic components are aligned within the        receptacles of the carrier (particularly after positioning).

The term “align fixture” may particularly denote a device for supportinga physical structure during machining or handling. A “physicalstructure” may in this context particularly denote the material, pieceof material or electronic component that is operated upon at any stagein the process of manufacture or handling.

The term “align” may particularly denote that something is ranged orlined up. E.g. an electronic component may be aligned with a fixedabutting section.

The term “electronic component” may particularly denote any componentadapted for being mounted on an electronic support substrate such as aprinted circuit board. Such electronic components may also be handled bya handling machine, the so called “handler”. Examples for electroniccomponents are electronic chips, i.e. packaged dies or naked unpackageddies.

The term “receptacle” may particularly denote a device to receive andcontain something or may more particularly denote a container for anelectronic component.

The term “abutting section” may particularly denote a touching segment,i.e. a portion of a receptacle which directly abuts to an electroniccomponent.

The term “separate elastic member” may particularly denote a discrete,sole or solitary piece being flexible, springy or resilient. Such aseparate elastic member may be provided as a physical structure which isformed separately from the elastic unit plate but may be mounted to theelastic unit plate temporarily or permanently.

The term “carrier” may particularly denote a device that carriesmultiple electronic components at a time. A carrier may be a strip-likemember adapted for carrying multiple electronic components inreceptacles of the carrier. Such a carrier may be used in conjunctionwith a handler allowing to handle the electronic devices using thecarrier for subsequently carrying out a test (such as a function test)of the electronic components.

The term “clamp” may particularly denote that the carrier is designed tohave parts brought together for holding or compressing the electroniccomponents. The parts which may be brought together may be the firstabutting sections and the second abutting sections. The clamping may beelastically. The term “elastic” may particularly denote that a force maybe exerted which is particularly flexible, resilient or springy such asa Hook force.

The elastic unit may be provided as a separate elastic member adapted tobe mounted at an elastic unit receiving section. The elastic unitreceiving section may be formed from a plate or at the elastic unitplate and is adapted to receive a separate elastic member, for instancein a form locking manner. To enhance the adaptivity of the align fixturethe elastic unit may be a separate elastic member. One elastic unitplate or any other adapted plate may be suitable to receive differenttypes of elastic members. As a consequence of this there are fewerplates needed to adapt the align fixture to different sizes ofelectronic components. It may be possible just to change the respectivesize of the receptacle, the position of the elastic unit receivingsection or to change the size of the separate elastic members to beinserted for adapting the align fixture to different electroniccomponent types. The separate elastic member may be detachably mountedmaking it more convenient to change the align fixture. In case anelastic unit of an align fixture or a carrier should be damaged, it ispossible to simple substitute the elastic unit and to further use theelastic unit plate, align fixture, or carrier. This may safe costs andmay be performed with a reasonable maintenance effort.

A carrier may be provided for aligning multiple components, wherein thecarrier comprises multiple align fixtures. The multiple align fixturesmay be arranged in a matrix form and may be fixedly mounted together toform the carrier. The carrier may have similar properties like thesingle align fixture but applicable on multiple electronic components.The electronic components may be aligned in definite manner in thereceptacles by the align fixtures of the carrier.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method of usingthe carrier may be provided, wherein the electronic components may beplaced in enlarged receptacles of the carrier and thereupon may beelastically clamped and aligned by a clamping mechanism in a reducedsize of the receptacles. The transition of the enlarged size of thereceptacles to a clamping size of the receptacles may take place in aself-acting manner.

In the following, further exemplary embodiments of the align fixturewill be described. However, these embodiments also apply to the carrierand to the method.

The separate elastic member may be integrally formed with the firstabutting section. Hence, elastic unit and first abutting section may beprovided as a single piece which may be connected to the elastic unitplate for instance by clipping, clamping, gluing, soldering, heatapplication, etc. Thus, elastic unit and first abutting section may bemade for instance of a common substrate or plate and therefore with lowcost.

The align fixture may comprise an actuatable structure formed at thefirst abutting section, wherein the actuatable structure may be actuableby a corresponding actuation structure (of a handler device or the like)for manipulating the receptacle. The actuatable structure may be forinstance a recess, a protrusion, etc. which can be actuated by anyappropriate force application mechanism (for instance applying amechanical force, an electric force, a magnetic force, etc.) controlledby the actuation structure. The actuation structure may be configured(for instance shaped and/or dimensioned) correspondingly to theactuatable structure and may be for instance a protrusion or any otherforce application element which can actuate the actuatable structureusing any appropriate force application mechanism (for instance applyinga mechanical force, an electric force, a magnetic force, etc.) forcontrolling the receptacle in a desired way (for instance fortemporarily enlarging or reducing an opening thereof).

An actuatable structure (particularly an actuatable hole, an actuatablepin or an actuatable arm) may be adapted to be actuated to, in turn,actuate the elastic unit. The actuatable structure may be locatedbesides the receptacle (particularly beside a boundary area of thereceptacle). The actuatable structure and the first abutting section mayform a stiff member. The actuatable structure may be accessible (by anactuation element controlled by a controller of a handler) from a sidefrom which the electronic component is to be received.

An actuatable hole may be situated in an L-shaped area of the firstabutting section. A pin may be inserted in the actuatable holeperpendicularly to an actuating force direction of the elastic unit. Theactuatable hole and the first abutting section may be integrally formed.A suspension of the elastic unit may have an axis-symmetric shape. Thesuspension of the elastic unit may comprise a male mould and the elasticunit receiving section may comprise the corresponding female mould. Thesuspension of the elastic unit may be inserted manually orautomatically. The suspension and the elastic unit receiving section maywork together in a form-locking manner. The suspension and the elasticunit receiving section may work together in a force closure manner. Thesuspension and the elastic unit receiving section may work together in afriction locking manner. The suspension may be situated in the elasticunit receiving section in a reversible manner. The suspension may besituated in the elastic unit receiving section in an irreversible mannerby plastic deformation.

The elastic unit receiving section may be adapted to fix the elasticunit at a suspension (particularly fastening or fixing) of the elasticunit so that the second elastic unit is fixed against rotation.Otherwise there may a danger that the elastic member may fail to exert aforce in a defined direction. The direction and the value of the forcedoes not vary if the elastic unit is assembled in a rotation-freemanner. Because of the trend for miniaturization in semiconductorfabrication leading to smaller sizes of semiconductor devices it may beimportant to align the semiconductor devices very accurately. Thus, itis advantageous to prevent the elastic member received in its suspensionagainst rotation because the forces may be defined in direction andvalue.

The elastic unit may be fixedly installed at or in the elastic unitreceiving section in a form locking manner. The elastic unit receivingsection may be adapted to fix the elastic unit in the suspension of theelastic unit wherein the elastic unit is fixedly installed with positivelocking. Slipping of the separate elastic member may be prevented byfixedly installing the elastic unit in a form locking manner. Theelastic unit may be prevented from falling out of the align fixture. Byinstalling the elastic unit in a form locking manner the direction andthe value of the force exerted by the elastic unit may be defined andmay be maintained stable.

The first abutting section may be adapted to exert a first force and thesecond abutting section may be adapted to exert a second force on theelectronic component, wherein the first force and the second force maybe at least partially opposed (particularly are exerted against oneanother, i.e. antiparallel) to one another. This may cause clamping ofthe electronic component between the abutment sections. The electroniccomponent may be aligned in the receptacle of the align fixture. Thefirst abutting section and the second abutting section abut on sidesections of the electronic component. According to the exerted forces,the electronic component may rest and be aligned if the forces exertedon the electronic component are at least not directed in one direction.The electronic component may rest, by including frictional forces, whenthe two forces exerted on the electronic component by the first abuttingsection and the second abutting section are at least partially opposed.

The first abutting section and the second abutting section may beadapted so that the first force is exerted in a main plane of thereceptacle (i.e. a force vector may lie within the main plane), or in amain plane of the electronic component, and the second force is exertedparallel to this main plane of the receptacle, or to the main plane ofthe electronic component. The main plane of the receptacle may bedefined by being parallel to a main plain of the align fixture. Theelectronic component may be aligned in an appropriate way if the forcesexerted by the first abutting section and the second abutting sectionare exerted in one plane. The first abutting section and the secondabutting section may abut on side sections of the electronic component.By exerting both the first force and the second force in a main plane ofthe receptacle the total force on the electronic component shows noturning moment which would have the tendency to flip the electroniccomponent out of the receptacle. The electronic component may be firmlyaligned in the receptacle by forces being parallel to the main plane ofthe receptacle.

The receptacle may further comprise a base support section which forms asupport surface (particularly something to hold up in position byserving as a foundation) parallel to a main plane of the receptacle.Planar base support section may also delimit (and define a bottom of)the electronic component receiving volume. The support force exerted bythe base support section may act on a main plane of the electroniccomponent, particularly may be antiparallel to the gravitational force.The electronic component may be arranged in the receptacle so that themain plane of the receptacle and the main plane of the electroniccomponent are parallel. The base support section acting on theelectronic component may be parallel to a main plane of the receptacleso that the electronic component is aligned by the support of the basesupport section in the main plane of the receptacle. An advantage ofsupporting the electronic component in the main plane of the electroniccomponent may be that the load on the electronic component may bedispersed on different parts of the main surfaces of the electroniccomponent and that the first force and the second force of the first andthe second abutting sections may be exerted parallel to the base supportsection. Thus, the orientation of the first force and the orientation ofthe second force may avoid cracking of the electronic component on thebase support section.

The base support section may be adapted to exert a (particularlyvertical) support force perpendicular to the first force and to thesecond force. The support force exerted by the base support section maybe adapted to align the electronic component rectangular to its mainplane. The technical advantage of the support force being perpendicularto the forces exerted by the first and second abutting sections may bethat there is no or basically no turning moment being exerted on theelectronic component. Hence, the electronic component may remain in analigned position relative to its main plane.

One or both of the first abutting section and the second abuttingsection may be flexibly mounted. A flexibly mounted first and/or secondabutting section may be adapted to perform a movement parallel to a mainplane of the receptacle. The force exerted by the abutting section whichis flexibly mounted is exerted parallel to a main plane of thereceptacle. The force to align the electronic component may be providedby the elastic unit and the elastic unit may move the flexibly mountedabutting section and the electronic component in a main plane of thereceptacle by the self-acting movement of the elastic unit in a mainplane of the receptacle itself. Thus, the forces of the elastic unit maybe exerted on the electronic component in a plane in which theelectronic component is predominantly rugged or stable.

The align fixture may comprise a base support plate above which theelastic unit is arranged (particularly extending parallel to the basesupport plate), wherein the elastic unit may be adapted to perform amovement parallel to a main plane of the receptacle at least partiallysupported by the base support plate. In one embodiment, the base supportplate and the elastic unit may be arranged parallel to a main plane ofthe receptacle and parallel to a main plane of the complete alignfixture. The elastic unit may move along the base support plate on whichthe elastic unit may be arranged. At least in one direction (which maybe the direction oriented towards the base support plate) the elasticunit may be secured against unwanted deformation. The base support platemay be planar or may have one or more recesses adapted to guide themovement of the elastic unit.

In particular, the flexibly mounted first abutting section is adapted toperform a movement parallel to a main plane of the receptacle.

The align fixture may comprise a base support plate and a receivingplate between which the elastic unit is arranged when being received inthe elastic unit plate. The elastic unit may be adapted to perform amovement parallel to a main plane of the receptacle (or parallel to amain plane of an electronic component received in the receptacle) atleast partially guided (particularly directing the motion of something)by the base support plate and the receiving plate. The receiving platemay particularly have a recess (or a receiving opening) via which theelectronic component is receivable in the receptacle by insertionthrough the recess. In one embodiment, the base support plate, thereceiving plate and the elastic unit may be arranged parallel to a mainplane of the receptacle and parallel to a main plane of the completealign fixture. The elastic unit may move between the base support plateand the receiving plate between which the elastic unit may be arranged.The elastic unit may be secured against deformation in two directions.The two directions against which the elastic unit may be secured may bethe direction oriented towards the base support plate and the directionoriented towards the receiving plate. The base support plate and thereceiving plate may be planar or may have recesses adapted to guide themovement of the elastic unit.

The align fixture may further comprise at least one distance adjustingplate adapted for adjusting a thickness of the align fixture, forinstance to adapt the align fixture for cooperation with a handlerdevice with which it may be used. For distance adaption purposes thealign fixture may comprise even more than three plates.

The elastic unit may comprise a spring element (particularly a rubbermember, any kind of elastic material member, a spring formed from ametallic (for instance steel) spring plate, a spring formed from aspring wire or any kind of springs such as flat springs, coil springs,leaf springs, etc.). A planar spring, for instance a meander spring, maybe preferred to optimize compactness. The spring element may beintegrally formed from a plate. The spring element may show similarproperties compared to the elastic unit wherein the elastic unit may beformed from several parts. The spring element may show elastic restoreforces against deformation, i.e. a Hook behaviour.

The spring element may be centered between

a) the first abutting portion (optionally having an actuable structure)in one end section of the integrally formed separate elastic member onthe one hand andb) a fastening element of the integrally formed separate elastic memberfor fastening the integrally formed separate elastic member at theelastic unit receiving section of the elastic unit plate on the otherhand.

The elastic unit may comprise a first spring element and a second springelement, wherein the one of the first abutting section and the secondabutting section being flexibly mounted may be connected with both thefirst spring element and the second spring element. In one embodimentthe first spring element and the second spring element are angularlyarranged relative to one another. In one embodiment the first springelement and the second spring element are arranged parallel to oneanother. In another embodiment, the first spring element and the secondspring element may be arranged relative to one another in an axiallysymmetric way or in a mirror symmetric way. Depending on the form,material and size of the spring element it may be advantageous tocombine two spring elements to an elastic unit. Even more than twospring elements may form an elastic unit. By combining two or morespring elements to an elastic unit the direction and absolute value ofthe force exerted by the elastic unit may be adapted.

The first abutting section, the second abutting section, and the basesupport section may delimit an electronic component receiving volume inwhich the electronic component may be received. At least a part of theelastic unit may extend below a bottom side of the electronic componentreceiving volume. By arranging the elastic unit below an electroniccomponent receiving volume the space needed for the align fixture may bekept small. For electronic components being larger than the averageelectronic components it may be helpful to save space in the main planeof the align fixture. Since the deflection of the elastic unit may belarger for big sized electronic components it follows that significant(for instance up to eight times of the) space may be saved by arrangingthe elastic unit below the electronic component receiving volumecompared to an arrangement in which the elastic unit is arrangedexclusively beside the electronic component receiving volume.

The one of the first abutting section and the second abutting sectionbeing flexibly mounted may extend in an upwards direction from theelastic unit to which it is mounted and this abutting section may extendaside of the electronic component receiving volume. The abutting sectionbeing flexibly mounted may extend aside of the electronic receivingvolume and in the same height of the electronic receiving volume inorder to be adapted to abut on the electronic component to be received.The flexibly mounted abutting section may extend from the elastic unitextending below the electronic receiving section upwardly to and asideof (i.e. outside of) the electronic receiving section and the flexiblymounted abutting section may be adapted to abut on an electroniccomponent received in the receptacle. The first abutting section and thesecond abutting section may be adapted to clamp the electronic componentin a space between them.

The first abutting section and the second abutting section may each forma stiff (particularly inelastic, inflexible, rigid, unbending orunflexible) member (particularly part) and may be adapted to engage(particularly come into contact with) the electronic component. Theelastic unit may be adapted to exert (particularly apply) two forcecomponents on one of the first abutting section and the second abuttingsection, the force components being angled relatively to one another(particularly enclosing an angle which is, beyond tolerances, differentfrom zero). The term “the elastic unit is adapted to exert two angledforce components” may particularly denote that a force may be split intotwo rectangular force components acting on a surface. A skew forceexerted by the elastic unit may act on at least one of the first andsecond abutting sections to apply on the at least one of the abuttingsections two force components which are angled to each other. Two angledforce components may be caused by a skew force exerted by the elasticunit. “Skew” force in this context may denote that a force is notparallel to a surface, i.e. the first and second abutting sections, butincludes an angle to the surface which angle deviates from beingparallel at least in an angle of 0,5°, 1°, 2°, 4°, 8° or 16°. The anglemay be larger than 10°, particularly larger than 30°, more particularlylarger than 45°. The skew force may be denoted as being angular. In oneembodiment the force may be directed on at least one rectangularabutting section in an angle of 45° relative to an internal angle of arectangular abutting section. The skew force may be expressed by a forcebeing exerted diagonally. According to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention, an align fixture may be provided which aligns an electroniccomponent in a self-acting manner in a receptacle. A skew force, e.g. adiagonally acting force (which respect to a for instance rectangularelectronic device), may exert two angled force components on at leastone of the first abutting section and the second abutting section. Theforce which may be skew or angular may be transmitted from the abuttingsection (being flexibly mounted on the elastic unit) via the electroniccomponent to the abutting section being fixedly mounted. In anembodiment, the skew force may act in a non-parallel direction to eachof the side sections of the electronic component. By providing twoangled force components exerted by an elastic unit the electroniccomponent may be fully aligned by the first abutting section and thesecond abutting section without the need of further lateral abutment ofthe electronic component within the receptacle. This may be advantageousbecause only one elastic unit and two abutting portions may besufficient for aligning the electronic component. The process ofdesigning and manufacturing of the align fixture may be cost effective.When the electronic component being engaged by two angled side sectionsof one of the abutting sections the alignment of the electroniccomponent may be reliable due to the fact that only one elastic unit isused. An orientation of one elastic unit may define the direction of theskew force and the direction and value of the two angled forcecomponents. The skew force may be skew or angular relative to the sidesections of the electronic component. The directions of the firstabutting section and the second abutting sections may be defined to beparallel to the orientation of the side sections of the electroniccomponent, respectively.

At least one of the first abutting section and the second abuttingsection may be adapted to engage two angled side sections of theelectronic component in a form locking (particularly fastening) manner.The electronic component may be a semiconductor component and may have abasically cuboid shape with six different surfaces. The two opposingmain surfaces, the so called symbol side and the parallel contact side,may denote a main plane of the semiconductor component since it isusually the symbol side and the contact side having a greater area thanthe remaining four side sections of the semiconductor component. Thus,the height of the electronic component defined by the height of the sidesections of the electronic component may be smaller than a length of theboth sides of the main surfaces.

Three arrangements may be applied: First, the electronic component mayabut with one part of one first of its side sections and may abut withone further part of a second of its side section on the abutting sectionbeing mounted via the elastic unit in a form locking manner. With aremaining one of its side sections or a corner region the electroniccomponent may abut on the abutting section being fixedly mounted. Theelectronic component may be aligned to the fixedly mounted abuttingsection with one side section. Second, the electronic component may abutwith one part of one first of its side sections or a corner region onthe abutting section being mounted via the elastic unit. With two angledand remaining of its side sections the electronic component may abut onthe abutting section being fixedly mounted in a form locking manner. Theelectronic component may be aligned to the fixedly mounted abuttingsection with two side sections. Third, the electronic component may abutwith one part of one first of its side sections and may abut with onefurther part of a second of its side section on the abutting sectionbeing mounted via the elastic unit. With one third and a remainingfourth of its side sections the electronic component may abut on thefixedly mounted abutting section. The electronic component may bealigned to the fixedly abutting section with two side sections.According to the described first, second and third embodiment theposition of the electronic component in its main plane may be fullydefined.

The align fixture may comprise a further elastic unit via which a thirdabutting section is mounted and wherein the first abutting section andthe third abutting section may be adapted to exert together two angledforce components on the second abutting section. The third abuttingsection may be mounted to the further elastic unit and the firstabutting section may still be mounted to the first elastic unit. Theelectronic component may be aligned by the first abutting section andthe third abutting section towards the second abutting section. Theelastic unit and the further elastic unit may exert forces wherein theforces are angularly to each other.

The first abutting section and the third abutting section may be adaptedto engage two or at least two angled side sections of the electroniccomponent. By engaging at least two angled side sections the electroniccomponent may be completely aligned towards the second abutting section.Two abutting sections may be adapted to align the electronic componentin two dimensions according to the two free dimensions of the electroniccomponent. The electronic component may only move in a plane parallel tothe main plain of the receptacle. A system may be over defined if athird force may engage on a third side section of the electroniccomponent.

The align fixture may further comprise a frame, particularly a slidablymounted frame, wherein the first abutting section and the elastic unitare mounted on the slidably mounted frame. Such a frame may be forinstance rectangular structure formed by for instance four bars or rods.The first abutting section and the elastic unit may be mounted within anarea delimited by the bars or rods. In one embodiment also the furtherelastic unit may be mounted at the floating receptacle frame. The frame,in turn, may or may not be mounted fixedly or flexibly on an outersupport structure such as a plate. In one embodiment, a slidably mountedframe may comprise adjustment units to allow fine adjusting of thealigning performance of the receptacle. The first and second abuttingsections may engage the electronic component and may align theelectronic component with the first abutting section parallel to a mainplane of the receptacle. Furthermore, the first abutting section and theelastic unit on which the second abutting section is mounted may both bemounted on a frame being slidably mounted in the main plane of thereceptacle. By providing the slidably mounted frame with adjustmentunits it may be possible to allow fine adjustment of the receptacle andthe electronic component received therein in the align fixture. Theslidably mounted frame may be elastically mounted via at least onefurther elastic unit.

In particular, the align fixture may further have a frame, particularlya slidably mounted frame, wherein the second abutting section and atleast one of the elastic unit and the further elastic unit are mountedon the frame.

At least one of the group consisting of the first abutting section, thesecond abutting section, the elastic unit, the further elastic unit, thebase support section and the slidably mounted frame may be at leastpartially integrally formed from a plate. It may be convenient tomanufacture at least one functional element from a plate by using designtechniques such as etching techniques or laser techniques. Thesetechniques may be optimally suitable for applying them on thin plates,for instance metal plates. By etching or laser cutting, a high accuracyfor the structures being manufactured may be achieved.

At least two of the group consisting of the first abutting section, thesecond abutting section, the elastic unit, the base support section andthe slidably mounted frame may be at least partially integrally formedfrom one plate. The same advantages cited for integrally forming atleast one of the functional elements from one plate hold for forming twoore even more functional elements from one plate. It may be even moreconvenient to manufacture as many functional elements as possible usingone plate. Particularly the abutting section being mounted on theelastic unit and the elastic unit may be formed from one plate.Additionally, the first abutting section may be integrally formed fromone plate. Even additionally the slidably mounted frame and the at leastone further elastic unit may be manufactured integrally from one plate.Thus, the first abutting section, the second abutting section, theelastic unit, the slidably mounted frame and the at least the onefurther elastic unit or the third abutting section may be integrallyformed from one plate. When properly adapting the form of the plate itmay be even possible to form also the base support section from the sameplate.

At least one of the elastic unit and the further elastic unit may beformed from a spring wire. It may be advantageous to form at least oneof the elastic unit and the further elastic unit from a spring wire. Thespring wire may be adapted in an optimal way to show elastic properties.The spring wire may be formed in an appropriate way and may be easilycoated with a coating showing desired electrical resistivity properties.The spring wire may be additionally used for to support externalelectrical leads of the electronic component. If formed from one springwire part the elastic unit may provide multiple functions in one part.

In particular the align fixture comprises an actuatable structure formedat the first abutting section, the actuatable structure being actuableby a corresponding actuation structure for manipulating the receptacle.

In the following, further exemplary embodiments of the carrier will bedescribed. However, these embodiments also apply to the align fixtureand to the method.

The carrier for aligning multiple electronic components may be providedwith multiple align fixtures. In an embodiment, the multiple alignfixtures may be integrally formed based on a common substrate (which maybe constituted by one or more plates).

At least one elastic unit may be assigned to each of the receptacles.There may be one or more elastic units assigned to one receptacle. Byassigning at least one elastic unit to one receptacle there may be a wayto align one electronic component independently from another electroniccomponent. This may be advantageous since receiving and aligning onefirst electronic component does not have an impact on receiving andaligning another second electronic component.

At least one elastic unit may be assigned to multiple of thereceptacles. The elastic unit may comprise more than one elasticsections and may be arranged in that two abutting sections are mountedon opposite sides of one elastic section. Even three, four, five or morereceptacles may share one elastic unit. Moreover, is may becost-efficient and space-saving to provide one elastic unit with morethan one elastic section. It may be appropriate to provide an elasticunit plate with as many elastic units and elastic sections,respectively, as there are receptacles or electronic components,respectively.

The carrier may be provided with a first plate comprising the elasticunits and a second plate, wherein the first plate may be arrangedslidably above the second plate and wherein the first plate may beadapted to allow for a mutual sliding of the multiple align fixturesrelative to the second plate. According to an exemplary embodiment ofthe invention, the carrier may comprise multiple receptacles eachreceiving an assigned one of the multiple electronic components. Thesize of the multiple receptacles may be delimited by the first abuttingsections of the first plate and the second abutting sections of thesecond plate. The first abutting sections of the first plate and thesecond abutting sections of the second plate may lie on opposed sides ofthe receptacles. The first plate and the second plate may be movablerelative to each other along main planes of the first plate and of thesecond plate and the size of the receptacles may change when therelative position of the first plate and the second plate are changedrelative to each other. The first plate and of the second plate may lieparallel to one another. The position of the first plate and of thesecond plate may be changed diagonally, i.e. a corner region of thefirst plate and a corner region of the second plate may be approachedand contrary to this pulled apart. The movement of the first plate andof the second plate or an approach or pulling apart of the firstabutting sections and the second abutting sections may take place in themain planes of the first plate and the second plate. The multipleelectronic components may be clamped between the multiple first abuttingsections and the multiple second abutting sections in the multiplereceptacles when the corner regions of the first plate and the secondplate approach. Corner regions of the receptacles may approach andpulled apart simultaneously when the corner regions of the first plateand the second plate approach and are pulled apart.

In particular, the carrier may comprise a first plate comprising theelastic units and a second plate comprising the second abuttingsections, wherein the first plate is arranged slidably relative to thesecond plate and wherein the first plate is adapted to allow for amutual relocation of the multiple first abutting sections relative tothe second abutting sections.

The first plate may be an elastic unit plate comprising a plurality ofelastic units, wherein each of the receptacles has assigned at least oneof the plurality of the elastic units. The first abutting sections maybe each formed on an elastic unit respectively. The purpose of theelastic unit may be that compensatory tolerances for varying dimensionsof the multiple electronic components may be permitted. Otherwise due tothe varying dimensions of the electronic components the electroniccomponents may fall out of the receptacles or misalignment may becaused. The elastic units may be particularly elastic coatings or rubberparts allowing to adjust elastic properties of the first abuttingsections. The elastic unit may also be any unit being elastic, such asany kind of springs. In an embodiment first plate and the second platemay be arranged parallel to each other. The first plate may move alongthe second plate on which the first plate may be arranged. At least inone direction which may be the direction towards the second plate thefirst plate may be secured against unwanted deformation. The secondplate may be planar or may have recesses adapted to guide the movementof the first plate.

A position or a deformation state of each of the elastic units maydetermine one of the boundaries of the respective assigned receptacles.The position of the elastic units may determine the dimensions of thereceptacles and the deformation state of the elastic units may determinethe dimensions of the receptacles. The position of the elastic units maymutually change with the position of the first plate and the secondplate relative to each other. The position of each first abuttingsection may change relative to each second abutting section. The changeof the position of the first plate and the second plate relative to eachother may cause a mutual change of the dimensions of each receptacle inthe same manner, i.e. the dimensions of the receptacles may increase orthe dimensions of the receptacles may decrease mutually. However, eachreceptacle may change its dimensions individually with a change of thedeformation state of the elastic unit, respectively. The deformationstate of the elastic unit and the dimension of the receptacle mayincrease when the elastic unit is brought into a prestressed positionand may decrease when tension is relieved.

The first plate and the second plate may be elastically coupled to eachother by at least one plate connecting elastic unit. It may beadvantageous to couple the first plate and the second plate elasticallyby at least one plate connecting elastic unit. The at least one plateconnecting elastic unit may be under tension when the dimensions of thereceptacles are mutually increased and the tension of the plateconnecting elastic unit may be relieved at least partially when thefirst plate and the second plate change their positions to decreaseddimensions of the receptacles. The dimensions of the receptacles may bemutually decreased when the tension of the at least one plate connectingelastic unit is relieved in a self-acting manner.

The second plate may comprise a first plate abutting section adapted forabutment of the first plate. The first plate may comprise a second plateabutting section adapted for abutment of the second plate. The secondplate abutting section and the first plate abutting section may define aclamping size of the receptacles when the first plate abutting sectionand the second plate abutting section abut on each other, wherein theclamping size of the receptacles may be adapted for a clamping of theelectronic components in the respective receptacles. A clamping size ofthe receptacles, wherein each receptacle may be adapted to clamp arespective electronic component, may be provided by a position of thefirst plate and the second plate relative to each other. The term“clamp” may particularly denote that the carrier may be designed to haveparts brought together for holding or compressing the electroniccomponents. The parts which may be brought together are the firstabutting section and the second abutting section.

The plate connecting elastic element and the plurality of elastic unitsmay be adapted to provide a total force for a self-acting transitionfrom an enlarged size of the receptacles in which the electroniccomponents may be receivable in the receptacles towards a reducedclamping size of the receptacles in which the electronic components maybe clamped. The total force may be defined by a force exerted by the atleast one plate connecting elastic unit minus a force exerted by theplurality of elastic units when the electronic components come intoclamping positions. The force of the at least one plate connectingelastic unit may be greater than the force exerted by the plurality ofelastic units. The total force may be positive and may provide aself-acting transition from an enlarged size of the receptacles to aclamping size of the receptacles where the second plate abutting sectionof the first plate and the first plate abutting section of the secondplate may abut on each other.

The carrier may further comprise handling structures formed at the firstplate and at the second plate. The handling structures may be adaptedfor handling the first plate and the second plate to relatively move theslidably arranged first plate and second plate against a force of theplate connecting elastic element towards an enlarged size of thereceptacles. The handling structures of the carrier may be adapted torelatively move the first plate and the second plate against the totalforce provided by the force of the at least one plate connecting elasticunit minus the force of the plurality of elastic units. The handlingstructures may be adapted to enlarge the receptacles against the totalforce to the enlarged size in which the bodies of the electroniccomponents are receivable in the receptacles.

The carrier may comprise a first plate, a second plate and a thirdplate. The first plate may comprise the elastic units and may bearranged floatingly between the second plate and the third plate. Thefirst plate may be adapted to allow for a mutual floating of themultiple align fixtures. The carrier may comprise a third plate, whereinthe first plate may be arranged floatingly between the second plate andthe third plate, wherein the second plate and the third plate may befixedly mounted to each other. The first plate may be the elastic unitplate and may be adapted to allow for a mutual floating (particularlyconnected or constructed so as to operate and adjust smoothly) of themultiple receptacles. The term “float” may particularly denote a driftwithout a defined external control. In particular “float” may denotethat the first plate may change its position relative to the secondplate and the third plate with small or negligible friction forces. Thehandling structures may be adapted to move the first plate towards anenlarged size of the receptacles against the total force. The plateconnecting elastic unit may be adapted to move the first plate towardsthe clamping size of the receptacles. The first plate, the second plateand the third plate may be arranged parallel to each other. The firstplate may move along the second plate and the third plate between whichthe first plate may be arranged. The first plate may be secured againstunwanted deformation in each direction which may be the directiontowards the second plate and the direction towards the third plate. Thesecond plate and the second plate may be planar or may have recessesadapted to guide the movement of the first plate.

In particular, the carrier may comprise a first plate, a second plateand a third plate, wherein one of the first plate and the second platecomprises the elastic units, wherein the first plate is arrangedfloatingly between the second plate and the third plate, and the firstplate is adapted to allow for a mutual relocation of the multiple firstabutting sections relative to the second abutting sections.

The second plate may be the base support plate and may comprise the basesupport sections which may be adapted to support main surfaces of theelectronic components. The base support sections of the receptacles maybe formed from the second plate. The base support plate assigned to therespective receptacle may extend to a second plate integrally formedfrom one plate or made up of multiple base support plates. Theorientation of the second plate may be parallel to each of thereceptacles and may be parallel to each of the base support sections.The support force exerted by each of the base support sections may actperpendicularly on main planes of the electronic component and may beparallel to each other.

The third plate may be the receiving plate and may be adapted fordelimiting at least partially a receiving opening of the receptacle. Thethird plate may cover the first plate. Through the third plate theelectronic components may be put into the receptacles of the carrier.The third plate may be integrally formed from one plate or may be madeup of multiple receiving plates.

The first plate or the third plate may comprise one of the firstabutting sections and the second abutting sections which are fixedlymounted. The first abutting sections and the second abutting sectionsmay be formed from the first plate or the third plate. When the abuttingsection being fixedly mounted is formed from the first plate, which mayparticularly be denoted as elastic unit plate, this abutting section maybe situated at the same height like the second abutting section. Thismay be advantageous for electronic components being extremely thin. Whenthe abutting section being fixedly mounted is formed from the thirdplate the size of the receptacles may be varied by approaching the firstabutting sections and the second abutting sections mutually or bypulling apart the first abutting sections and the second abuttingsections.

In the following, further exemplary embodiments of the method will bedescribed. However, these embodiments also apply to the align fixtureand to the carrier.

The method may further comprise placing the electronic components in apost processing machine and subsequently subjecting the electroniccomponents to an operation of the post-processing machine while theelectronic components maintain in aligned positions in the receptaclesof the carrier. A method of post-processing may particularly denote aprocess of evaluation or test of electronic components. Hence, apost-processing machine may particularly denote a machine for evaluatingor testing of electronic components. During post-processing theelectronic components may be subjected under various physical conditionsto get information about the quality of the electronic components.Post-processing may particularly denote a quality test or a qualityevaluation of the electronic component by subjecting the electroniccomponents under the various electrical and/or mechanical conditions ofinterest.

The method may further comprise elastically clamping the electroniccomponents by the clamping mechanism exclusively on side sections of theelectronic components. The electronic components may be placed inenlarged receptacles of a carrier and thereupon may be elasticallyclamped and aligned by a clamping mechanism in a clamping size of thereceptacles. The transition of the enlarged size of the receptacles to aclamping size of the receptacles may take place in a main plane of thereceptacle. The main plane of the receptacle may match with a main planeof the carrier, with a main plane of the electronic component and with amain plane of the align fixture. The carrier may be put into apost-processing machine. While the electronic components are clamped andaligned in the receptacles the electronic components may be subjected tooperations of the post-processing machine.

The method may further comprise providing the carrier with anidentifying feature or an identifier for definite (particularly precise,unique or unambiguous) identification of the carrier. Post-processingmachines may form an assembly line. The carriers may be transported fromone post-processing machine to a further post-processing machine. Aunique identification of each of the carriers in a plant duringpost-processing enables tracking (particularly tracing) the way of eachof the carriers in the plant and enables tracking each of the electroniccomponents. Thus, by the identifying feature each of the carriers andeach of the electronic components may be tracked in an assembly line.

The method may further comprise providing the carrier with fiducialmarkers for fiducial detection. A vision system together with fiducialmarkers or marks may provide a detection of the position and orientationof the carrier in a post-processing machine. This may be advantageouswhen operating processes which need accurate alignment of the carriersuch as for marking or contacting the electronic components.

The method may comprise aligning the electronic components with thesecond abutting sections, wherein the first force may be exerted in aself-acting manner by elastic (particularly flexible, resilient orspringy) units (particularly a piece or complex of apparatus serving toperform one particular function) to which the first abutting sectionsare mounted. Each one of the first abutting sections may be mounted atleast to an assigned one of the elastic units. The elastic units mayeach exert the first forces towards the second abutting sections. Eachone of the second abutting sections is assigned to one of the firstabutting sections. The electronic components may be aligned with thesecond abutting sections.

The method may further comprise exerting two force components on atleast one of the first abutting sections and the second abuttingsections so that this abutting sections exert two angled forcecomponents on the electronic components.

The post-processing may comprise laser marking while the electroniccomponents are held and aligned by the carrier and are moved by handlingthe carrier. While the electronic components are clamped and aligned inthe receptacles the electronic components may be subjected to a lasermarking procedure. The electronic components may have an accessiblesymbol side independent of whether the contact side abuts with the basesupport section or whether the symbol side abuts with the base supportsection. If the contact sides abut with the base support sections thesymbol side lies open to the receiving side and may be subjected tolaser marking without any restrictions. If the symbol sides abut withthe base support sections the base support sections of the receptaclesmay have access openings in their centres extending only so far that theedge regions of the electronic components still abut with the basesupport sections.

The post-processing may comprise a burn-in test while the electroniccomponents are held and aligned by the carrier and are moved by handlingthe carrier. In a burn-in test the electronic components, especiallysemiconductor devices, may be subjected to heat for a predefined timeinterval (for instance temperatures of up to 200° C. for a fraction ofan hour up to several hours). During the burn-in test the electroniccomponents may be additionally subjected to a power test by a currentfeed and/or the electronic components may be subjected to an electronictest for testing the electronic quality of the electronic components.The carrier may be adapted to withstand high temperatures by forming thecarrier of temperature resistant materials like metal, thermosettingplastics or resins.

The post-processing may comprise a bake-in process while the electroniccomponents are held and aligned by the carrier and are moved by handlingthe carrier. The bake-in process may be a process where the electroniccomponents are heated for a predefined time interval (for instancetemperatures of up to 200° C. for a fraction of an hour up to severalhours) without any electrical test or load. Forming the carrier fromtemperature resistant materials may enable the carrier to withstandbake-in processes, wherein the electronic components are subjected tohigh temperatures for a period of about one hour. The bake-in processmay be used to reduce electrical load on the electronic components tofurther continue with a final test.

The post-processing may comprise a final test on a handler while theelectronic components are held and aligned by the carrier and are movedby handling the carrier. The final test having a variety of embodimentsmay be a test being carried out before the electronic components areassembled. The final test of electronic components, e.g. semiconductordevices, may be an electronic functional test and may comprise a varietyof physical test conditions, such as a variety of temperatures,pressures, accelerations and inclination angles in an arbitrarycombination. Forming the carrier from a material or materials whichwithstand the mechanical and temperature strain the carrier may beadapted to align the electronic components under these variableconditions and may be adapted to allow for a contacting the contacts ofthe electronic components.

In an embodiment the post-processing does not comprise a final test on ahandler while the electronic components are held and aligned by thecarrier and are moved by handling the carrier. After laser marking,burn-in or bake-in directly a selective marking may be operated on theelectronic components.

In particular, the post-processing is free of a final test on a handlerwhile the electronic components are held and aligned by the carrier andare moved by handling the carrier.

The post-processing may comprise a selective marking while theelectronic components are held and aligned by the carrier marking andare moved by handling the carrier. With reference to the explanation ofthe laser marking same is valid for selective marking, e.g. lasermarking: The electronic components may have an accessible symbol sideindependent of whether the contact side abuts with the base supportsection or whether the symbol side abuts with the base support section.If the contact sides abut with the base support sections the symbol sidelies open to the receiving side and may be subjected to laser markingwithout any restrictions. If the symbol sides abut with the base supportsections the base support sections of the receptacles may have openingsin their centres extending so far that the edge regions of theelectronic components abut with the base support sections. Afterselective marking the electronic components placed in the carrier may beselectively marked “positive”, selectively marked “negative” or may becompletely marked either “positive” or “negative”. Other classifications(different from “positive” or “negative”) are possible as well. Theselective marking may also comprise a mark pointing out a qualityfeature of the electronic components, e.g. a mark which signs themaximum frequency to operate a semiconductor device.

At least two of the group consisting of the laser marking, the burn-intest, the bake-in, the final test and the selective marking may beperformed without removing the electronic components from the carrier.In other words, multiple of these or other procedures may be carried outwhile the electronic component remains aligned in the carrier. Thecarrier may be adapted to withstand a variety of physical conditions andmay accurately align the electronic component through complete orpartial post-processing. Thus, the electronic components may be held andaligned in the carrier during the complete post-processing or parts ofpost-processing.

After the post-processing the electronic components may be removed fromthe post-processing machine by removing the carrier from thepost-processing machine while the electronic components are held andaligned by the carrier.

The aspects defined above and further aspects of the invention areapparent from the examples of embodiment to be described hereinafter andare explained with reference to these examples of embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter withreference to examples of embodiment but to which the invention is notlimited.

FIG. 1 shows a detailed view of and

FIG. 2 shows an overview of a carrier according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed view of and

FIG. 4 shows an overview of a carrier according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of a separate elastic member and

FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of a carrier having such a separateelastic member according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows an electronic component and

FIG. 8 show a detailed view of a carrier for accommodating such anelectronic component according to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view and

FIG. 10 shows a detail of a carrier according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 11 shows an elastic unit plate of a carrier before mounting aseparate elastic member, and

FIG. 12 shows a detailed view of a corresponding carrier after mountingthe separate elastic member to the elastic unit plate according to anexemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 shows a detailed view of an align fixture for a carrieraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the invention and

FIG. 14 shows an overview of such a carrier according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 show a detailed view of a carrier according to anexemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The illustration in the drawing is schematically. In different drawings,similar or identical elements are provided with the same referencesigns.

FIG. 1 shows a view from above of a detail of an elastic unit plate 110depicting an align fixture 10. The align fixture 10 may comprise a firstabutting section 31 and an elastic unit 41 together forming anintegrally formed separate member. The align fixture 10 may furthercomprise a second abutting section 51, wherein the second abuttingsection 51 is a section of the elastic unit plate 110. The separatemember formed from the first abutting section 31 and the elastic unit 41may further comprise an elastic unit fixing 82. The elastic unit fixing82 may be a cylindrical protrusion clipped in a correspondingly shapedcylindrical recess constituting elastic unit receiving section 90 in aform locking manner (for instance using a mechanical locking mechanism).Both the elastic unit fixing 82 and the elastic unit receiving section90 may be assigned to the align fixture 10. A receptacle 20 comprises inthis embodiment at least the first abutting section 31 and the secondabutting section 51 and delimits an accommodation space foraccommodating an electronic component such as a packaged semiconductorchip (not shown in FIG. 1). The elastic unit 41 comprises a first springelement 42 and a second spring element 44 both being stiffly coupled tothe elastic unit fixing 82 and to the first abutting section 31 andbeing arranged in between these two components. The first spring element42 and the second spring element 44 allow for an elastic movement of thefirst abutting section 31. The first abutting section 31 and the elasticunit 41 are integrally formed from a common plate in the embodiment ofFIG. 1. The first abutting section 31 comprises a first part 32 and asecond part 34 being angled to each other and forming a stiff memberhaving a corner-shaped or L-shaped appearance.

By actuating an abutting section actuation hole 39 formed in the firstabutting section 31 by inserting an actuation pin of a handler deviceinto the abutting section actuation hole 39 and by moving such a pintowards the elastic unit fixing 82, the elastic unit 41 is brought intoa prestressed (particularly compressed) position in which the receptacle20 is enlarged since the first abutting section 31 is moved away fromthe second abutting section 51. The second abutting section 51 comprisesa first part 52 and a second part 54. The first part 32 of the firstabutting section 31 lies opposed to the second part 54 of the secondabutting section 51. The second part 34 of the first abutting section 31lies accordingly opposed to the first part 52 of the second abuttingsection 51. The first abutting section 31 and the second abuttingsection 51 are therefore adapted to engage an electronic component (notshown in FIG. 1) in a space between them.

FIG. 1 a shows the separate elastic member according to the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 1. A first meandric spring element 42 extends from asuspension 82 towards a first part 32 of the first abutting section 31.A second meandric spring element 44 extends from a suspension 82 towardsa second part 34 of the first abutting section 31. The first abuttingsection 31 is L-shaped and comprises an actuatable hole in the middle ofthe L-shaped form. The first spring element 42 and the second springelement 44 together form the elastic unit 41.

FIG. 2 shows a view from above, i.e. a plan view of a detail of thecarrier 100 including the detail shown in FIG. 1. The elastic unit plate110 comprises sixteen elastic unit receiving openings 114 with sixteencorresponding elastic units forming sixteen align fixtures 10 arrangedin a matrix-like manner. Below the elastic unit plate 110 there may belocated a base support plate (not shown in FIG. 2, compare FIG. 6). Afiducial element 118 may be located at one side section of the firstplate 110.

FIG. 3 shows a view from above of a detail of the elastic unit plate 110depicting a receptacle 20 according to another exemplary embodiment ofthe invention which may be a separate member and may be clipped to thepatterned elastic unit plate 110. The elastic unit plate 110 maycomprise an elastic unit receiving opening 114 and an elastic unitreceiving section 90. The elastic unit receiving opening 114 is adaptedto receive the complete receptacle 20 of the corresponding align fixture10.

The elastic unit receiving section 90 is adapted to engage with anelastic unit fixing 82 in a form locking manner. The second abuttingsection 51 and the elastic unit fixing 82 together form a stiff member.Thus, the second abutting section 51 is fixedly mounted to the elasticunit plate 110. The first abutting section 31 is flexibly mounted at thesecond abutting section 51 via the elastic unit 41. In its main functionthe embodiment of the receptacle 20 is similar to the embodiment shownand discussed in FIG. 1. A base support section 71 may be formed by apart near the first abutting section and a part near the second abuttingsection. The part of the base support section near the first abuttingsection may be coupled to the part of the base support section by theelastic unit.

The difference between the embodiment according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 isthat in the embodiment according to FIG. 1 the elastic unit exerts acompressive force to clamp the electronic component and that in theembodiment according to FIG. 3 the elastic unit exerts a tractive forceto clamp the electronic component.

FIG. 4 shows a view from above of a detail of the carrier 100 includingthe detail shown in FIG. 3. The elastic unit plate 110 comprises nineelastic unit receiving openings 114 with nine corresponding elastic unitreceiving sections 90. Four align fixtures 10 are provided with fourcorresponding receptacles 20. The fiducial element 118 may be located atone side section of the first plate 110.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a separate elastic member comprisingthe receptacle 20, and FIG. 6 shows the according carrier 100 in anexploded view. Since the separate elastic member shows a unit fixing 82having an elongated section and a circular section, the separate elasticmember may be clipped to the elastic unit plate 110, shown in FIG. 6.The elastic unit plate 110 shown in FIG. 6 may comprise an elastic unitreceiving opening 114 and an elastic unit receiving section 90. Theelastic unit receiving opening 114 is adapted to receive the completereceptacle 20 of the corresponding align fixture. The elastic unitreceiving section 90 is adapted to engage with the elastic unit fixing82 in a form locking manner. The second abutting section 51 and theelastic unit fixing 82 together form a stiff member. Thus, the secondabutting section 51 is fixedly mounted to the elastic unit plate. Thesecond abutting section 51 comprises a first part 52 and angled to thefirst part 52 a second part 54. The first abutting section 32 isflexibly mounted via the elastic unit 46 and a third abutting section 34is flexibly mounted via the elastic unit 48.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the carrier 100 which comprises theseparate elastic member according to FIG. 5. The carrier 100 comprisesthe elastic unit plate 110 which may receive the separate elastic memberin the receiving openings 114. The carrier may additionally comprise abase support plate 120 and a receiving plate 130. The receiving plate130 comprises receiving openings 135 through which the electroniccomponent 1 is to be received. In this view nine receiving openings 135of the receiving plate 130 can be seen. The carrier may comprise anarbitrary number of receiving openings 135 and a corresponding number ofreceptacles. Access openings 125 in the base support plate 120 allowaccess to the electronic components 1 from a second main surface of theelectronic component 1. The electronic component 1 depicted upside down(with the contact side 2 to the top) may be subjected to operations onthe symbol side. The separate elastic member may be inserted to theelastic unit receiving section 90 so that the separate elastic memberfills a free space of the receiving opening 114.

FIG. 7 shows an electronic component 1 in an embodiment of a so calledSO (small outline) package. External leads 3 of the electronic component1 may abut with a lead abutting section 146 of a spring wire 141. Thespring wire 141 shows a first abutting section 143 which is adapted tobe pressed by an elastic force of the spring wire towards a side sectionof the electronic component 1 to align the electronic component 1towards its opposite side.

FIG. 8 shows a detail of a base support plate 120 and first spring wirepart 141 and a second spring wire part 145. Each of the first springwire part 141 and the second spring wire part 145 is bent in twoU-shaped turnings 149 which each fit into a recess 215 of the basesupport plate 120. A connecting part which forms the lead abuttingsection 146 between the two U-shaped turnings 149 may lie on a part ofthe base support plate 120 where the base support plate 120 shows norecess. Thus, the first spring wire part 141 and the second spring wirepart 145 are fixed against rotation. The first spring wire part 141shows a first abutting section 143 for abutting with the side section ofthe electronic component 1. The electronic component 1 may extendthrough the access opening 125.

FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of the detail of a carrier 100 accordingto the embodiment of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. The carrier 100 comprises afirst plate 110, a second plate 120 and a third plate 130. As shown inFIG. 8, the base support plate 120 is adapted to receive the firstspring wire part 141 and the second spring wire part 145. The elasticunit plate 110 may be adapted to partially cover the first spring wirepart 141 and the second spring wire part 145 when the elastic unit plate110 and the base support plate 120 are put together. The third plate 130which may denote the receiving plate may cover the elastic unit plate110 so that the elastic unit plate 110 is located between the receivingplate 130 and the base support plate 120. Each of the first plate 110,the second plate 120 and the third plate 130 has an assigned firstreceiving opening 115, a second receiving opening 125 and a thirdreceiving opening 135 (as shown in FIG. 9) to be adapted to receive theelectronic component 1 since the electronic component 1 may have agreater thickness than the carrier 100.

FIG. 10 shows the detail of the carrier 100 in the assembled formreferring to the exploded view of the same carrier in FIG. 9. Theelectronic component 1 is positioned in the carrier 100.

FIG. 11 shows a detail of a carrier according to another exemplaryembodiment of the invention which comprises an elastic unit plate 110and a base support plate 120. The base support plate 120 forms a basesupport section 71 and comprises actuation recesses 982 and 984. Twoactuation recesses 982 and 984 are arranged in the area near the elasticunit receiving section 90.

FIG. 12 shows the completion of the align fixture 10 according to FIG.11 with an elastic unit 41. The receptacle 20 comprises first abuttingsection 332 which is flexibly mounted via the elastic unit 41, secondabutting section 51 forming a stiff rectangular member, a third abuttingsection 334 flexibly mounted via the elastic unit 41, and the basesupport section 71 formed by a base support plate. With reference toFIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the elastic unit 41 fits into the opening of theelastic unit receiving section 90 in a form locking manner. The firstabutting section 332 mounted to a first spring section 46 and the thirdabutting section 334 mounted to a second spring section 48 are adaptedfor exerting two angled forces towards the second abutting section 51.Fixedly coupled to the first abutting section 332 an actuation arm 62 islocated above the actuation recesses 982 to allow for an actuation ofthe first abutting. Fixedly coupled to the third abutting section 334 anactuation arm 64 is located above actuation recess 984 to allow for anactuation of the third abutting section.

FIG. 13 shows an align fixture 10 comprising a floatably mountedreceptacle 20. Although not shown in FIG. 13 for the sake of simplicity,receptacle 20 can be configured, for instance, as shown in any of FIG.1, FIG. 3, FIG. 5, FIG. 8, or FIG. 12. A floatably mounted frame 27 isfloatably mounted via two opposing elastic units 49. The receptacle 20integrated in the floatable mounted frame 27 is also floatable.Adjustment units 28 arranged on the floatable mounted frame 27 allow fora fine adjustment of the floatable mounted frame 27 and hence for fineadjustment of the receptacle 20. Three adjustment units 28 may allow fora fine adjustment of the receptacle in the main plane of the alignfixture 10.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic view from above of a complete carrier 100having thirty-six align fixtures arranged in a matrix form of 4×9 alignfixtures. Two fiducial elements 118 arranged in the edge region of thecarrier 100 may be used to align the carrier 100.

FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 show a view from above of a detail of a carrier 100according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, wherein thecarrier 100 comprises a slidably arranged elastic unit plate 110elastically coupled to an elastic unit plate frame 111 via a plateconnecting elastic unit 154. The elastic unit plate frame 111 is fixedlymounted at the receiving plate 130. Thus, by bending the plateconnecting elastic unit 154, the elastic unit plate 110 may sliderelative to the receiving plate 130 having receiving openings 135 whichform the second abutting sections 51. The first abutting sections 31mounted at the elastic unit plate 110 via the elastic units 41 may sliderelative to the second abutting section 51 which second abuttingsections 51 may form a fixed part of the receiving plate 130. Areceptacle opening 48 of the receptacle 20 formed by the first abuttingsection 31 and the second abutting section 51 may be enlarged by slidingthe elastic unit plate 110 relative to the receiving plate 130. Byengaging an elastic unit actuation hole 258 with an actuation force 210the elastic unit plate 110 may be relocated relative to the receivingplate 130 and the elastic unit plate frame 111 since the receiving plate130 and the elastic unit plate frame 111 may be fixedly coupled tofixing hole 208. An opposing force 200 may be applied in order to fixthe carrier 100 against the force of the actuation force 210. At severalfixing points 156 the receiving plate 130 and the elastic unit plateframe 111 may be fixedly coupled to each other.

Referring to FIG. 15 a first plate abutting section 134 of fixedlymounted to the receiving plate 130 and a second plate abutting section914 of the first plate 110 which may be denoted as elastic unit plate110 abut with each other. A spacer 257 may be adapted to regulate thesize of the receptacle opening 48. When the first plate abutting section134 and the second plate abutting section 914 abut with each other theclamping size of the receptacle formed by the first abutting section 31and the second abutting section 51 may be reached. The size of thereceptacle opening 48 may be smaller than the electronic component 1 tobe received, so that the electronic component 1 may be clamped by thefirst abutting section 31 and the second abutting section 51. The space259 between the elastic unit plate 110 and the elastic unit plate frame111 may have the size of the spacer 257.

Referring to FIG. 16 a receiving size of the receptacle opening 48 isshown. The space 259 between the elastic unit plate 110 and the elasticunit plate frame 111 is enlarged. Therefore, also the size of thereceptacle opening 48 may be enlarged to a size where the electroniccomponent 1 may be received in the receptacle 20, i.e. in the spacebetween the first abutting section 31 and the second abutting section51.

It should be noted that the term “comprising” does not exclude otherelements or steps and the “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. Alsoelements described in association with different embodiments may becombined. It should also be noted that reference signs in the claimsshall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.Implementation of the invention is not limited to the preferredembodiments shown in the figures and described above. Instead, amultiplicity of variants are possible which use the solutions shown andthe principle according to the invention even in the case offundamentally different embodiments.

1. An align fixture adapted to align an electronic component, the alignfixture comprising: an elastic unit plate having an elastic unitreceiving section; a receptacle adapted to receive the electroniccomponent and having a first abutting section and a second abuttingsection; an elastic unit; the first abutting section being flexiblymounted via the elastic unit; wherein the elastic unit is adapted toexert a force to align the electronic component to the second abuttingsection; and wherein the elastic unit is a separate elastic memberadapted to be mounted at the elastic unit receiving section.
 2. Thealign fixture according to claim 1, wherein he separate elastic memberis integrally formed with the first abutting section.
 3. The alignfixture according to claim 1, wherein the elastic unit receiving sectionis adapted to fix the elastic unit at a suspension of the elastic unitso that the elastic unit is non-rotatably fixed.
 4. The align fixtureaccording to claim 1, wherein the first abutting section is adapted toexert a first force and the second abutting section is adapted to exerta second force on the electronic component, and wherein the first forceand the second force are at least partially opposed to one another. 5.The align fixture according to claim 1, wherein the first abuttingsection and the second abutting section are adapted so that the firstforce is exerted parallel to a main plane of the receptacle and thesecond force is exerted parallel to the main plane of the receptacle. 6.The align fixture according to claim 1, wherein the receptacle furthercomprises a base support section which forms a support surface parallelto a main plane of the receptacle.
 7. The align fixture according toclaims 1, wherein the base support section is adapted to exert a supportforce perpendicularly to the first force and perpendicularly to thesecond force.
 8. The align fixture according to claim 1, wherein theflexibly mounted first abutting section is adapted to perform a movementparallel to a main plane of the receptacle.
 9. The align fixtureaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a base support plate arrangedbelow the elastic unit; and wherein the elastic unit is adapted toperform a movement parallel to a main plane of the receptacle at leastpartially supported by the base support plate.
 10. The align fixtureaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a base support plate and areceiving plate between which the elastic unit is arranged; and whereinthe elastic unit is adapted to perform a movement parallel to a mainplane of the receptacle at least partially guided by the base supportplate and the receiving plate.
 11. The align fixture according to claim1, further comprising: at least one thickness adjusting plate adaptedfor adjusting a thickness of the align fixture.
 12. The align fixtureaccording to claim 1, wherein the elastic unit comprises a springelement.
 13. The align fixture according to claim 1, further comprising:an actuatable structure formed at the first abutting section, theactuatable structure being actuable by a corresponding actuationstructure for manipulating the receptacle.
 14. A carrier for aligningmultiple electronic components comprising: multiple align fixtures, eachalign fixture comprising: an elastic unit plate having an elastic unitreceiving section; a receptacle adapted to receive the electroniccomponent and having a first abutting section and a second abuttingsection; an elastic unit; the first abutting section being flexiblymounted via the elastic unit; wherein the elastic unit is adapted toexert a force to align the electronic component to the second abuttingsection; and wherein the elastic unit is a separate elastic memberadapted to be mounted at the elastic unit receiving section.
 15. Thecarrier according to claim 14, wherein each of the receptacles has atleast one assigned elastic unit.
 16. The carrier according to claim 14,wherein at least one elastic unit is assigned to multiple of thereceptacles.
 17. A method of using a carrier for aligning multipleelectronic components, the carrier having multiple align fixtures, eachalign fixture comprising an elastic unit plate having an elastic unitreceiving section, a receptacle adapted to receive the electroniccomponent and having a first abutting section and a second abuttingsection, an elastic unit, the first abutting section being flexiblymounted via the elastic unit, wherein the elastic unit is adapted toexert a force to align the electronic component to the second abuttingsection, and wherein the elastic unit is a separate elastic memberadapted to be mounted at the elastic unit receiving section, comprisingthe steps of: actuating a clamping mechanism to expose openings in thereceptacles being larger than the electronic components to be received;positioning the electronic components in the openings in thereceptacles; and actuating the clamping mechanism to reduce a size ofthe opening so that the electronic components are aligned within thereceptacles of the carrier.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising the steps of: placing the electronic components in a postprocessing machine; and subjecting the electronic components to apost-processing operation of the post-processing machine while theelectronic components maintain in aligned positions in the receptaclesof the carrier.
 19. The method according to claims 17, furthercomprising the step of: elastically clamping the electronic componentsby the clamping mechanism exclusively on side sections of the electroniccomponents.
 20. The method according to claim 17, further comprising thestep of: providing the carrier with an identifying feature for definiteidentification of the carrier.